Common problems/Troubleshooting

Your Browser

Most issues practices experience are to do with the browser they are using. Internet explorer has many add-ins that download in the background, these can cause instability when using our system; unfortunately this is beyond our control.

Internet Explorer 9, 10 and 11 are no longer supported by Microsoft and are not considered secure for the purposes of patient data and GDPR, the referral system will not function correctly when using these browsers.

Please note: if you are using windows XP or Windows 7 you will experience issues with using our website and system as the browsers cannot always be updated to the appropriate version. Windows XP support was withdrawn by Microsoft in April 2014 and Windows 7 was withdrawn January 2020; please ensure that your system is running on an up to date operating system and is secure.

We would recommend utilising:

Microsoft Edge which can be downloaded here

Google Chrome which can be downloaded here

Or Firefox which can be downloaded here

Firefox will automatically update itself. 

Google chrome may need updating as follows:
Go to the 3 vertical dots on the right of google chrome, down to  Help and then About google chrome this will then check for updates.

Date of Birth

Issue: The date of birth is generating an error message. This is normally caused by the format being incorrect.

The messages are:

Empty date is not allowed

Date is invalid

Date cannot be in future 

Date cannot be today 

Invalid value for year

Dob is not valid

Solution: Enter the date of birth as follows: DD/MM/YYYY. Please ensure you are using the zero as opposed to the O. Please note if you have used cut and paste this may have introduced a space before or after the date, the system sees this as a character and will therefore throw up the error message. This is because it sees the date you entered as DDD/MM/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYYY

Age restriction

Issue: In some areas the pathways are only appropriate for certain age ranges (for example all referrals in Greater Manchester for under 16’s must be referred using the Child Oral Care form – with the exception of orthodontics). The MOS, restorative and maxillofacial forms will show an error when you enter the date of birth if they are under 16 (this is area specific and not all areas use the same date range).

The messages are: Patient age does not correspond to this form age requirements & You are able to only submit this form for patients with age between ? and ? years.

Solution Complete the correct form for the age of the patient.

* Please Note: We do not look after all services in every area. If a form does not display in your online system, it is not a service we look after.

Referring for a condition that does not require anaesthesia

Issue: You are referring for TMJ or using the other box on a form and it will not let the form through without an anaesthesia option being selected.

The message is: Please indicate requested anaesthesia

Solution: Please select the local anaesthesia button, the form is generic for certain conditions. These sections allow the system to trigger an IOSN (Indication of Sedation Need) form as required for IV and GA. The triaging/treating practitioners will understand why LA is ticked when they receive the form.

Postcode errors

Issue: When entering the patients postcode you will sometimes see an error message relating to longitude or latitude. This means that the postcode lookup cannot find the address. It is usually caused by the details being free-entered into the form or where the patient resides in a new build where the council has not not released the postcodes; this is something that is outside of our control.

The message is: Postcode not found or couldn't be determined, maybe patient's or practice's postcodes are invalid? (LATITUDE ERROR IS SOMETIMES DISPLAYED)

Solution: Please enter the postcode and select the address from the drop down menu: If the incorrect street drops down or the house/flat number is not available this normally means that the postcode you have for the patient is incorrect.

(For example: odd numbers on a street are one postcode and the even numbers are another as they are opposite sides of the road).

These can be easily searched using google by entering the first line of the address and the town. Please ensure you are using the zero where there are numbers as opposed to the O. 

If the address has been released and exists a google search will show something similar to below with the address below the map:

If it just shows a map with no address and normally a list of house prices, that is a new build.

If the patient lives in a new build, enter the practice address as the patients. Then either add an attachment with the correct address on or free type it into one of the boxes on the form, stating "Patient resides in a new build, unable to address in the correct boxes. The address is: xxxxx"

Please note: if you have used your dental softwares integration option to populate the form, you will need to update the details in your dental software before using it to refer the patient that the error is appearing on.

* If the issue still persists please contact the referral centre, it may be that an external provider is experiencing technical issues or the postcode is for a new build that has not as yet been added to the post office or geo-mapping providers databases.

Cannot find a referral in your online system dashboard

Issue: You have a URN for a referral, you can track it from the website; or you have a rejection letter from us and cannot find it in your online system using the search function. You have looked in all the tabs and it is not there.

The message is: An error occurred during search: please enter a URN, an NHS number, a date of birth, or a patient's name.

Solution: This is normally because the referral you are trying to track was not done via the online system (i.e. it was emailed, posted or faxed to us or made before our system was in use in your area for that discipline). You will not be able to track these referrals from your dashboard as they do not exist as editable electronic documents.

* If you need to re-refer a patient and you have now moved to online, please complete a new referral form. This will make it easier to retain a copy, add additional data to any rejected referrals and attach radiographs.

The triager or provider cannot see a document you have attached

Issue: You have attached a document as a PDF to a referral, but the triager or provider keeps rejecting it stating it is not there.

You may see this error on upload: please convert your attachments to one of: pdf, doc, docx, bmp, jpeg, png, tiff OR must have a file extension. Please rename and include a correct extension.

Solution: The way you are saving/exporting the scanned file is causing the issue. Normally if it saves as .PDF it will fail as the file type should be in lower case (ie .pdf). This can be a simple case of just changing the file type to lower case letters. If this does not work, export the file as an image (jpeg, bmp, png etc) and attach this. This is often caused by the software packaged with your scanner as it is generally a cheap converter that does not meet pdf standards.

* Unfortunately it is impossible to make the system re-encode every PDF file to the same format as there are hundred’s of PDF converters all using different encoding (many are online converters).

Database Error – Contact System Administrator

Issue: The referral will not send or save as a draft and gives the error message above. This is an error often caused by cutting and pasting data from documents into the referral system. Word documents, text pad etc (and in some cases your dental software), use hidden characters that we cannot disable or filter out and this causes the failure. It is also caused by pasting large amounts of text into boxes with limited fields (for example the "other" box that opens when you select other from Main reason for referral).

The message is: An unexpected database error occurred. Please contact system administrator.

Solution: This is often an issue in the phone number boxes and or you have potentially added data into the GMP’s code/name box that should not be there (for example you have put "Any Doctor available" which exceeds the characters expected for that box). If you type in the yellow box the practice name it will normally find the GP and enter them in the boxes when you click on the options it presents. You will still need to add the GMP's (GP's) name.

If you have typed something into the GMP Code field, clear this box and try to send again. Or use the NHS Demographic lookup function to populate the GP details (this is at the top right of the form)

Solution 2: If you cut and paste large amounts of text into the form you have potentially overloaded the field and it is unable to send. Remove the text you have pasted in. If this information is required add it in an additional document you can upload at the end of the form

NHS.net email warning dialogue 

Issue: The referral will not send and gives the error message

The message is: Validation failed: Referrer email must be one of: nhs.net, fax.usomo.co.uk, wales.nhs.uk, nhs.uk

Solution: In the box as pictured below you have entered a none-NHS email address. If the email address is not one of the following: nhs.net, nhs.uk, fax.usomo.co.uk or wales.nhs.uk the referral will fail to send. Remove any text from this box and try again and it will send successfully.